


Rest My Chemistry, Tonight

by LikeSatellites



Category: K-pop, VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe, Caning, Hurt/Comfort, Light BDSM, M/M, Restraints, Spanking, role play, sappy homos, top! hakyeon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:13:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3415454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeSatellites/pseuds/LikeSatellites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakyeon and Taekwoon are domestic boyfriends.<br/>Their friends don't know it.<br/>They like to keep it a secret. For now. For nights like these.<br/>Taekwoon would be lying if he said he didn’t wait all week for these nights.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Rest My Chemistry, Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for my beautiful friend who made me a jar of adorable origami stars for Valentine's Day when I simply said, "I'll write you a fic because I'm poor." 
> 
> As always, please comment or give kudos. If you guys like it, I'll write more of this Universe. Perhaps Rabean?? Or a special thing with Ken or Hyukkie?

            “Don’t break the mugs just because you’ve got a date,” Jaehwan hissed, elbowing Hakyeon in the ribs.

            “It isn’t a date,” Hakyeon gurgled, waving the mug and drying cloth around.

            Jaehwan grabbed them both from Hakyeon’s hands and narrowed his eyes. “These are perfectly good ceramic mugs that I inherited from my late great grandmother back when she owned her café during Japanese rule in Korea. My great grandma fought tooth-and-nail for these mugs, got it? These mugs are—”

            “Lee Jaehwan. No one will hurt the mugs. I just have to get out of here—”

            “For your date.”

            “For a _meeting_ ,” Hakyeon clarified.

            “You work at this café. What kind of meeting are you going to? Are you leaving me? Are you abandoning me, Cha Hakyeon?”

            Hakyeon slammed a mug down on the wood counter, and Jaehwan whined, reaching for it, protective urges swelling in his apron-clad chest.

            “My babies,” he whimpered, cradling the mug in his arms.

            “Yeah, I’m gonna go,” Hakyeon said, giving Jaehwan the side-eye as he ripped off his own black barista apron.

            “To your _meeting_ ,” Jaehwan repeated suspiciously, still gently rocking the mug in his arms.

            “As I said.”

            Hakyeon grabbed his coat from under the counter, his scarf slipping out from the bundle and dropping to the ground. As he bent to scoop up the gray wool, he felt hands on his ass.

            “Jaehwan, are you groping me right now?”

            “Is this lube in your pocket? Is this _lube_ in your _pocket_ , Cha Hakyeon?” Jaehwan screeched.

            Hakyeon wheeled around and tried to snatch the little bottle from Jaehwan’s hand.

            “No.”

            “I know what lube looks like.” Jaehwan slanted his gaze at the bottle. “And this is really cheap.”

            “Things get a little dry when you rub yourself too hard?” Hakyeon snorted, “And, maybe if you paid me more as the manager of _your_ café, I could afford better lube.”

            Jaehwan waggled the bottle around. “What meeting are you going to that requires lube, Cha Hakyeon?”

            “A meeting, okay? I’m going to be late, so please give it back.”

            “Jaehwan, are you closing up alrea—is that lube?”

            “Sanghyuk, avert your virgin eyes! Hakyeon is a deviant!” Jaehwan cried.

            “Hyung,” Sangyuk groaned, walking in and dropping his coat onto one of the tables, “how many times do I have to tell you, I’m not a—”           

            “Your virgin _eyes_ , Sanghyuk!” Jaehwan cried again, though his constant waving of the bottle only made it more impossible to look away. It was like watching a strawberry flavored fireworks display. Or car crash.

            Hakyeon took advantage of the moment—Jaehwan utterly disturbed at the idea of Sangyuk knowing what lube is, Sangyuk dropping his tan face into his mitten-covered hands—to snag back the bottle and pocket it in his coat.

            “I’m leaving for my _meeting_ now, boss,” Hakyeon said, surging towards the door, letting the frigid wind slap him in the face.

 

********************************************************

 

           “I’m hanging up now, Wonshik.”

           “Jung Taekwoon, you disappear every time we try to have a jam sesh.”

           “ _He’s probably getting railed tonight, babe_ ,” came a muffled voice in the background.

           “I heard that, Hongbin.”

           “You know we’re on speaker, love,” Wonshik said softly.

           “ _I’m aware._ ”

           “Is he right?” Wonshik whispered, though the sound was amplified and fuzzy from the speakerphone.

           “Goodbye, Wonshik.”

           “Yah, Taekwoon! You’re supposed to sing for my next EP, you know!”

            “ _Let the man have his dick, honey_.”

            “Goodbye, Hongbin,” Taekwoon added.

            “ _Wonshik, I’m jealous. Hang up and fuck me_.”

            “I literally just ordered Thai food. Can you wait?”

            “Can you guys just hang up the phone, please?” Taekwoon groaned.

            “ _Is Pad See Yew more important than me bent over the kitchen counter because I’m going to—_ ”

            “Goodbye,” Taekwoon muttered, not only hanging up but shutting off his phone completely. Which was a task in and of itself using only his nose.

            He was thinking about maybe showering again or possibly checking his dark hair in the mirror again, but then he’d have to undo the knot and—

            “Taekwoon-ah! Jung Taekwoon!”

            He shook his head, letting the soft silk slip down from his forehead.

            “Jung Taekw—”

 

********************************************************

 

            The apartment was dark. There was still a light on over the stove, which Taekwoon always forgot to shut off after he cooked dinner. But there was no dinner on the table.

            Hakyeon pursed his lips and shuffled through the hall.

            “Jung Taekw—”

            The door to the bedroom was open. The lights were dim—Hakyeon had insisted on getting the dimmer after the time Taekwoon practically shriveled up under Hakyeon after he saw how pale he looked in the fluorescent lighting of their apartment. Taekwoon was surprisingly self-conscious, considering he never voiced any concerns about looks, though Hakyeon knew first-hand how hard it was for Taekwoon to voice anything about himself. Or anything at all.

            It took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

            Taekwoon was on his knees in the middle of their purple rug, black rope knotted around his wrists, hands resting on his knees. One of Hakyeon’s silk scarves (that Taekwoon hated— _“you look smarmy, like a pirate”)_ was tied around his eyes, but Taekwoon was still facing the door, as if he could see through the fabric.

            “Hello, my little Leo,” Hakyeon said, dropping his coat from his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor.

            Taekwoon’s ears seemed to perk up at the sound. He was always more alert like this, which Hakyeon loved, loved how Taekwoon was so focused on him, loved how he was never distracted here.

Taekwoon was often lost. Not in the way Hakyeon was. In his own way.

            Hakyeon was lost in his own persona. Lost in the way he felt he had to be _someone, anyone_ at all worth noticing. Hakyeon was loud. Hakyeon was there, visible, opaque.

            Taekwoon liked to disappear. He liked to slip away. In the beginning, he would leave notes: _Be home soon_ (usually a few days). Now the slipping was mental. He was transparent in a way Hakyeon sometimes wished he could be. But also in a way Hakyeon wished he could cleanse away. Well, cleanse wouldn’t be the right word.

Hakyeon wished he could spread himself over the sheet of glass that separated Taekwoon from the rest of the world, so Taekwoon would have no choice but to look at him, see him, realize how deeply Hakyeon ached for him. Ache was also probably not the right word. An ache was dull, nagging, sustained.

            What Hakyeon felt was sharp. It clung to the edges of his skin like needles. But he felt it when Taekwoon touched him using only his hands. When he used his hands like a synecdoche. Hands for his whole self. As if using only his hands were enough for Hakyeon. As if.

            “My sweet little boy, were you waiting for me?”

            Taekwoon didn’t reply, just simply looked up. Nodded.

            “Leo, Sir asked you a question.”

            Taekwoon dropped his head.

            “Leo, when Sir asks you a question, you answer. You know that.”

            When Taekwoon was Hakyeon’s Leo, Hakyeon felt like he could pry into him. He could pry into him in the ways he wouldn’t dare when Taekwoon was just Taekwoon.

            “Yes, Sir,” Taekwoon said, soft little voice wavering. “I was waiting.”

            Sometimes Hakyeon wanted to shriek and fall to his knees and hold Taekwoon so tightly he would squeak. Other times he wanted to splay Taekwoon out over his knees and palm the pale skin of his ass until he wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.

            “Up, Leo.”

            Taekwoon rose off his haunches, hands dangling loosely. His chin was lifted up to the sound of Hakyeon’s voice.

            Hakyeon tapped under Taekwoon’s chin, and Taekwoon’s chest expanded as he drew in a deep, shaking breath.

            “Such a beautiful boy,” Hakyeon said, thumbing over the sharp bend of Taekwoon’s jaw, following that line up to his cheekbone. “I was thinking about you today. Thinking about coming home to you. Were you thinking of me, precious boy?”

            Sometimes, in aftercare, Taekwoon would whisper: _you use domination as a way to get me to admit things_.

            _What kind of things?_

            He wasn’t wrong. But if that was what Taekwoon needed to be able to be honest with himself, Hakyeon was all the happier for it. He loved digging his fingers into Taekwoon’s sides, his hips, his ribs, pulling out the words, the feelings, but instead of leaving him hollow, Hakyeon left behind warmth.

            Taekwoon was silent, face still under Hakyeon’s fingers.

            Hakyeon aimed a soft slap at Taekwoon’s jaw. Taekwoon barely flinched.

            _It’s okay, Taekwoon had said the first time. Use your hands. I want them_.

            “Are you mad at me for making you wait?”

            _Don’t be self-conscious, Hakyeon. He can sense it. He needs this._

            Hakyeon aimed a harder slap at Taekwoon’s cheek, and this time he let out a soft moan.

            “That’s a good boy. Communicate. Tell Sir what you want.”

            Taekwoon’s cheek was a soft pink. His lips parted, and Hakyeon slid his thumb over the plump skin of his bottom lip. Hakyeon felt Taekwoon’s breath against the pad of his thumb. He knew he would have to reach deeper.

            “On your hands and knees, Leo,” Hakyeon said, grabbing the back of Taekwoon’s neck and forcing him forward, so he would brace himself on his hands.

            His body was already bare, all pale skin and sharp angles. Hakyeon could follow the rivers of veins under Taekwoon’s skin if he looked hard enough. If they had more time together, perhaps Hakyeon could map them out with his lips, his fingertips. One day.

            For now, Hakyeon held Taekwoon’s neck until he felt Taekwoon loosen up under his grip. His head dropped low, muscles taut in his neck finally relaxing. Hakyeon loved watching Taekwoon’s shields drop, an entire army sudden defenseless.

            He pressed his knuckles down against Taekwoon’s spine until Taekwoon lowered his whole chest to the floor, bottom raised high in the air.

            “Count with me, Leo. Out loud. When you get to five, I want you to thank me.”

            Taekwoon was silent.

            Hakyeon let his palm land sharply against the skin of Taekwoon’s ass.

            Very delicately, Taekwoon breathed out, “One.”

            Hakyeon’s lips curved at the corners, and he spanked Taekwoon once more.

            “Two.” His breath came harder, more ragged, but still a whisper.

            On the third slap, Taekwoon cried out, bit down on his lip, knees shaking.

            “Th-Three.”

            Hakyeon aimed the fourth spank to just under the bend of Taekwoon’s ass, hitting his thigh, letting red bloom up under his touch. The slap was even sharper than the last, and Taekwoon’s forehead fell to the floor. A low whine sounded from his throat. Hakyeon let himself grin—Taekwoon couldn’t see anyhow. 

            “Number, Leo.”

            “…Four.”

            After the last spank, Taekwoon lay panting with his head pressed to the floor. Hakyeon kneaded the heated skin for a moment, which only made Taekwoon writhe and whine again.

            “Thank me. If you’re a good boy, you’ll thank me.”

            Taekwoon shivered, not moving, as he muttered, “Thank you, Sir.”

            Hakyeon leaned down and kissed the red skin of Taekwoon’s ass. “Such a beautiful, good boy. Such a sweet little thing with such a lovely sweet voice. Do you want more, Leo?”

            Goosebumps rose up as Hakyeon’s lips pulled away from Taekwoon’s warm skin.

            “Yes, Sir.”

 

********************************************************

 

            Taekwoon would be lying if he said he didn’t wait all week for these nights.

            The nights when he wasn’t himself. Hakyeon wasn’t Hakyeon.

            Or maybe that wasn’t right of him to say. Maybe it was better to say he was more himself on these nights. More honest with himself.

            Hakyeon had him grip the carpet with white knuckles as he slapped his over-heated, over-sensitive skin over and over, making him count each spank, making him thank him after every round of five.

            And then Hakyeon’s lips traveled down the notches of his spine, gentle and warm and plush, and Taekwoon couldn’t help but shudder and shake at the mix of sensations. His blood was burning, stinging, restless, as if it couldn’t stand being trapped inside of him any longer, but his skin was numb, pebbled with goosebumps, aching for something more.

            “Sir,” Taekwoon muttered, barely able to get the words out.

            Hakyeon paused with his breath over Taekwoon’s tailbone.

            “Yes, Leo?”

            “Something harder,” Taekwoon said, following up with, “Please.”

            Hakyeon stepped away and appraised Taekwoon for what seemed like ages. Taekwoon couldn’t stop shaking at that point, sweat covering every inch of his skin, matting his hair to his forehead.

            “I’m not strong enough?” Hakyeon asked, breaking role.

            “Sir,” Taekwoon said, teeth gritted.

            Hakyeon straightened up and strode away for a brief moment.           

            Taekwoon was about to do the same, give himself a stretch, when Hakyeon returned, tutting, “Don’t you dare.”

            “Can we move to the bed, Sir?”

            “Do your delicate bones ache, Leo?” Hakyeon said, smirking.

            “I fear for your thin, weak legs, actually, Sir,” Taekwoon replied.

            Hakyeon grabbed a fistful of Taekwoon’s hair and jerked his head to the side. Taekwoon hissed between his teeth.

            “You’ll get it harder, you naughty little thing,” Hakyeon said, dragging Taekwoon to the bed, throwing him onto the mattress.

            Taekwoon hit the mattress, bouncing, before righting himself up against the headboard. He gripped the dark wood tightly with bound hands and braced himself. When Hakyeon was irritated, he forgot to treat Taekwoon so gently. Taekwoon learned this trick just to serve that purpose. He wanted to see Hakyeon’s marks for weeks, not just hours.

            Hakyeon didn’t make him wait long, the thin metal cane striking his skin hard just moments later.

            Taekwoon let himself cry out. There was no use trying to hold in noise when the pain was so good. So right. He wanted Hakyeon to know how much he adored it.

            Hakyeon struck him on the back of his thighs, and Taekwoon felt welts forming. If Hakyeon hit just the right way, they wouldn’t bleed, but they would fade into white spiderwebs of light scar that would eventually disappear. Hakyeon would never let Taekwoon have permanent scars because of him, even though Taekwoon often reminded Hakyeon he himself was a scar.

            _A scar, Taekwoonie? That’s harsh._

            _Not all scars are unpleasant memories_.

            Taekwoon’s cries filled the room, but underneath them ran the current of Hakyeon’s breath. Taekwoon could sense it better these days, could sense the slight changes in it when Hakyeon was becoming desperate.

            “Sir,” Taekwoon said, breathless, skin stinging, burning, practically aflame.

            “Yes, my pretty little Leo?” Hakyeon ran the tip of the cane over the marks, making Taekwoon jerk and writhe in place. He trailed the cane over Taekwoon’s entrance, and he moaned so softly he wasn’t sure the sound had even come out of his mouth or if it were a trick of the ambiance.

            “Aren’t you going to fuck me now?”

            “Is that what you want?”

            “Well, aren’t you?”

            “I repeat. Is that what you want, Leo?” Hakyeon pressed the tip of the cane against Leo’s entrance a bit harder.

            Taekwoon shook, fingers slipping with sweat on the headboard. His forehead fell forward onto the wood; he could barely hold himself up.

            “Leo,” Hakyeon repeated, pressing harder until the tip of the cane almost breached him.

            It hurt. It hurt, but Taekwoon couldn’t get the words out. He never could in important moments like these.

            Like when Hakyeon confessed.

            _Taekwoonie, you know I love you, right?_

_Taekwoon-ah, it’s okay if you can’t say it._

_It’s okay if you can’t right now._

_It’s okay. If you still can’t, you know._

_The words aren’t everything. I know you do._

_What’s a word anyhow? Anyhow is a word. See? Words are nothing. Like spaghetti. That’s a stupid word. Stupid words and important words are all the same._

_I love you, yeah?_

            Hakyeon gripped into Taekwoon’s hair again, pulled his head back, turned it, planted his lips onto Taekwoon’s. Taekwoon gave in. He let Hakyeon control the kiss. He kissed the way Taekwoon imagined rays of sun seep into soil. He kissed like warmth. He kissed like the kind of warmth that buries itself inside bone marrow, makes flowers sprout out of winter earth, makes even the most unsure of hearts feel sure.

            Hakyeon threw Taekwoon face first onto the mattress and let him lie there as he slid out of his own clothing. It seemed to take years. Taekwoon wasn’t a patient creature.

            And then there were fingers inside him, and Taekwoon could swear Hakyeon _knew_ just how slowly and deeply to move his fingers to make Taekwoon’s eyes fill with desperate tears. He felt them drip to the mattress.

            “Sir.”

            “No permission to speak until I’m done,” Hakyeon said.

            Taekwoon bit his lip and attempted to rut against the mattress, but Hakyeon grabbed his hip with his free hand and held him still. He held him in a bruising grip as his fingers worked Taekwoon open slowly, painstakingly.

            Taekwoon couldn’t stop crying. It felt too good. But he needed more.

            Hakyeon finally gave him more when Taekwoon felt like he could sink into the mattress and drown in his needy tears. He pushed himself into Taekwoon all at once, hard, just the way Taekwoon needed.

            He and Hakyeon let out deep, shaking breaths in unison.            

           

 

********************************************************

 

            Being inside Taekwoon was something akin to running frozen hands under hot water.

            Sweet, sweet relief.

            And then overwhelmingly scalding.           

            Because Taekwoon felt so damn fucking good, but Hakyeon could barely handle him. Hakyeon made himself start a rhythm, but all he wanted to do was rut into Taekwoon until he could just collapse.

            It took every ounce of his restraint left to keep from doing that. To keep up a rhythm for Taekwoon, who he could hear whining into the comforter with each thrust. Hakyeon’s thin hipbones struck Taekwoon’s already over-sensitized skin, which made Taekwoon cry out every once in a while on a particularly hard thrust.

            “Fuck,” Hakyeon breathed out, hands gripping Taekwoon’s narrow waist, pulling his body back to meet his thrusts, since he knew Taekwoon was too weak to do so himself. “Such a gorgeous thing you are. So fucking gorgeous. You feel so amazing, my Leo. I love how good you feel, did you know that?”

            With each word, Taekwoon shook harder beneath him, body tightening up around Hakyeon. Hakyeon groaned and tightened his own grip on Taekwoon’s waist.

            “You’re mine. My perfect little Leo with this lovely body, so obedient and clever and beautiful.”

            Taekwoon let out a low whine and rolled his hips back.

            Hakyeon swore, his rhythm stuttering, growing erratic.

           Taekwoon did it again.

           Hakyeon slapped his hip, and Taekwoon screamed, body quaking as he kept himself from coming.

           “Do you want to come for me, my Leo?”

           Hakyeon reached between Taekwoon’s legs and stroked him lightly.

           Taekwoon screamed again.

           “Do you?”

           Taekwoon cried, “Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir. Fuck, yes, Sir.”

           “Good boy. Come.”

           Taekwoon continued shaking as Hakyeon stroked him again, a bit harder, and then he felt a tremor run down the length of his spine. He now knew what it would feel like to be completely pulled apart at the seams, layers plucked off one by one like a Russian Doll. He felt like the littlest Russian Doll, finally exposed, finally whole not hollow.

            He grew hoarse crying out as he came into Hakyeon’s warm tan palm, and he let himself collapse his hips down. Hakyeon ground into him for a few moments more before he pulled out, and Taekwon felt heat splatter onto his back.

            Hakyeon let out a series of curses under his breath as he came, and then there were gentle kisses on the back of Taekwoon’s neck, trailing down to his shoulder blades.

            “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

********************************************************

 

            Taekwoon barely remembered getting into the bathroom.

            He was perched on the counter by the sink, watching Hakyeon fiddle with the bathtub temperature.

            “If it is too hot, your welts will really burn,” Hakyeon said.

            “They already burn, Hakye—Sir,” Taekwoon replied.

            Hakyeon laughed and moved to cup Taekwoon’s cheeks. He laid a kiss on Taekwoon’s nose.

            “Taekwoonie.”

            “Hakyeon,” Taekwoon let himself say finally, lips curving into a soft smile.

            “You sure you’re okay? I’ll get the first aid kit after we bathe, so I can put some Neosporin on those cuts. Maybe an ice pack and—”

            Taekwoon kissed him just to shut him up.

            And because he wanted to.

            It was hard to watch Hakyeon’s pretty dark lips move and not want to kiss him.

            “Taekwoonie, you little fox,” Hakyeon said, pulling back to check the water level of the tub. They’d let it overflow once or twice, too caught up in one another to notice until water lapped at their heels.

            Hakyeon lifted Taekwoon off the counter and carried him into the tub, laying him down into the hot water slowly. Taekwoon knew the water would sting, but even knowing didn’t make it any easier to relax when his whole body felt like it had been doused in cheap liquor and then lit aflame by thousands of fallen cigarettes. He felt like a bar floor.

            He gripped the edges of the tub and whimpered softly.

            Hakyeon gave him one of those looks. Half concerned. Half ultra-super-mega-concerned.

            “I’m fine.”

            “Fine isn’t really reass—”

            “Get in the tub, Hakyeon.”

            Hakyeon grimaced but listened. He climbed into the hot water, pushing Taekwoon away from the edge, and bracketing himself around him, arms wound around his middle. Taekwoon let himself relax against his chest.

            Their house phone began to ring. Their friends still didn’t know they lived together. They never had people over. It was something they didn’t feel like sharing just yet, since they liked having the space for night like these. Uninterrupted.

            When the phone rang, they usually just let it go.

           

            _Beep._

           “Taekwoon, it’s Wonshik again. I know you’re probably busy getting railed—”

            “ _Wonshik, I found them! I found my assless cha—_ ”

            “Bean, baby, please. I’m on the phone. Anyhow, I know you’re busy, but I wanted to let you know we’re all going out for Sanghyuk’s birthday. Taking him out and stuff. And it would mean a lot if you’d sing that night when we perform. I wanna do a birthday thing. Well, that’s it. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, man, if you’re not too dead from getting the dick.”

            “ _I wish I were dead tired from getting the—_ ”

            “ _Bean_ , love, please. Okay, bye, Taekwoon!”

 

            Taekwoon could feel Hakyeon giggling behind him.

            “They have an interesting sort of love, don’t they?” he asked, lips near Taekwoon’s ear. He laid a kiss on the soft shell of his ear moments afterward.

            “It seems to work for them.”

            “What about us?”

            Taekwoon fell silent. The walls were suddenly too stark white, too close together. The water was too high. It was in his mouth, choking him, choking back his words.

            He grabbed the edges of the tub and rose up, water dripping down his body, and he gasped for air.

            “Taekwoon?” Hakyeon stood too, worry etched in every pore of his face. He reached for Taekwoon, who stepped back, nearly tripping. “I won’t push you. I won’t. I’m sorry.”

            “No,” Taekwoon said, drawing in air. “No, it’s okay. I’m…”

            “I told you it’s okay, and it is. It’s really okay.”

            “It isn’t. It isn’t okay,” Taekwoon muttered, covering his face with wrinkled pale hands. The air outside the tub was freezing, but he couldn’t really feel it, his insides were hot with shame. When he dropped his hands away, his cheeks were stained with tears.

            “Taekwoon, please. Don’t cry. It’s okay. I love you no matter what,” Hakyeon said. “The words aren’t important. I can feel them in the way you smile for me, touch me, and—”

            Taekwoon grabbed Hakeon’s hands and put them on his chest. He held them there and then guided them up to his throat, to his cheeks.

            “Say it again, Hakyeon.”

            Hakyeon’s brows knit together in concern, but he complied. “I love you, Jung Taekwoon.”

            Tears slid down Taekwoon’s cheeks, but all he could do was nod for a few beats of silence, Hakyeon’s hands still wet on his skin.

            “Again.”

            “I love you, Taekwoon.”

            “Again.”

            “I love you.”

            “Again.” Taekwoon was desperate, voice raw still from before.

            “Taekwoon, it’s okay.”

            Taekwoon paused, thinking for a minute. “Ask me as Leo. Ask me.”

            Hakyeon paused, swallowing thickly. “Leo… My little Leo.”

            Taekwoon nodded, eyes on the water beneath them.

            “Leo, Sir always needs verbal replies, unless he says otherwise.”

            “Yes, Sir.”

            “Leo, my beautiful boy, you know Sir loves you very much, don’t you?”

            Taekwoon pursed his lips.

            “Leo,” Hakyeon said more sternly. “Don’t you?”

            “Yes, Sir. I know.”

            “And how does my Leo feel about me?”

            A few more beats of silence.

            Hakyeon wanted to drop it. He wanted to just go to bed, hold Taekwoon until he forgot about all this, wake up, make eggs…

            “…Love Sir very much,” Taekwoon said, barely audible.

            “What was that, Leo?”

            “I said I love him very much,” Taekwoon repeated, still refusing to look up.

            Hakyeon grabbed his chin, forced his face level with his own, made Taekwoon meet his gaze. “Who do you love, Leo?”

            Taekwoon ran his tongue over his dry bottom lip. “I love my Sir. I love my Sir. I love him.”

            “Who?”

            “My…my…”

            “Who do you love?”

            “My. You. You. I love my you.”

            Hakyeon’s hand fell away from Taekwoon’s chin, and his face crumpled. His dark eyes brimmed with tears, and he fell forward against Taekwoon’s chest.

            “I am your ‘you,’” he said, hugging Taekwoon as if he were holding the most precious earthly thing he could find.

            “Yes,” Taekwoon said. “You’re my ‘you.’”

           

            _Beep_.

            “Hakyeon, it’s Sanghyuk. Jaehwan hyung is currently in a state of shock—maybe even catatonic—because I told him I did the do last year. But he wanted me to let you know that he’s giving you a raise, so you can afford better lube. He said whoever you’re fucking must really like you to let you use such cheap equipment. And also lube!” _A laugh_. “Get it? He insinuated your dick is cheap equipment. Well, anyways, see you tomorrow for my birthday. I think Wonshik and Taekwoon will perform. You should bring whoever you’re fucking along. Okay bye!”

 

********************************************************

 

           Hakyeon woke up in an empty bed. That was nothing new, since Taekwoon liked to wake up early to go run and then get lattes to bring back. Hakyeon always insisted on extra sugar in his. Taekwoon thought he should just drink straight syrup.

           He skipped through the voicemail messages, still grinning at the thought of Jaehwan somehow incapable of speech, when he found a new one.

           “It’s me. The line at the coffee shop is pretty long. Just want to let you know I might take a while.”

           For a moment, Hakyeon froze, hands on the counter.

           Taekwoon liked to disappear.

           “Probably an extra half hour. I want muffins, too.”

           Hakyeon let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

           “Oh, I see Jaehwan. He’s rushing toward me. Help. I’ve gotta go hide.”

           Hakyeon snorted. The sound felt like relief. 

           “I love you, bye!”

           Hakyeon nearly knocked the phone off the counter in his haste to rewind.

           “I love you, bye! I love you, bye! I love you, bye!”

           Hakyeon was still replaying the message when Taekwoon came home, arms full of latte and muffins, ears red at the sound of his own voice. 


End file.
